Cooking utensil holder for preventing intermingling of cooking liquids and residue

Abstract

A cooking utensil holder for storing cooking utensils with a waste collection tray and a support structure allowing cooking utensils to be oriented in a substantially vertical position and positioned above the floor and within the walls of the removable waste collection tray. The support structure has at least a first and a second utensil opening with the first utensil opening narrower than the second utensil opening and sized to maintain a knife in a substantially vertical position with the handle end pointed away from the waste collection tray. The second utensil opening is wider than the first utensil opening. At least one waste run off opening is provided in the bottom of the support structure and sized to allow liquid and solid waste to collect in the waste collection tray without clogging the waste run off opening when cooking utensils are stored. There is at least one cross member of sufficient thickness to fit between the tines of a fork, and positioned within at least one of the first and second utensil openings to maintain the tines above any waste collected in the waste collection tray, when resting on the at least one cross member. There is also at least one cooking utensil support associated with each of the cooking utensil openings to maintain the working end of a non-fork cooking utensils above any waste collected in the waste collection tray.

Description

RELATED APPLICATION[0001]This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60 / 357,093, filed on Feb. 15, 2002, the contents of which are incorporated in this application by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates to cooking utensil holders and more particularly, to a cooking utensil holder that organizes cooking utensils and prevents the intermingling of cooking and liquids residues that adhere to cooking utensils during cooking.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]A common problem while cooking is how to organize and store (while cooking) the multitude of cooking / kitchen utensils that are used to prepare, cook and serve the many courses and dishes involved in a meal. These cooking utensils include forks with two or more tines, non-fork utensils such as knives, spoons, spatulas, ladles, and others. Cooking utensils are often left on the counter, dripping liquid and solid residue / waste from the dishes for which they are...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

A common problem while cooking is how to organize and store (while cooking) the multitude of cooking / kitchen utensils that are used to prepare, cook and serve the many courses and dishes involved in a meal.

This raises both sanitary and organizational problems for the cook / user.

The co-mingling combined with the possibility of picking up the wrong utensil for a particular dish increases the chance that residue from one dish will contaminate another dish.

The contamination can range from merely affecting the flavor to causing bacterial contamination if a utensil was used with raw meats, fishes or vegetables.

In addition, this patent fails to address the problem of thin utensils, such as knives or some forks that will not sit up in the wide compartments shown and described.

In addition, by orienting the handle ends downward towards the lower end of the utensil assembly, residue / waste can run down the handle causing additional mess.

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